By Ikhili Monday EBALU, Benin city

The Edo State Peoples Democratic Party chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, yesterday, accused the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state of inflicting pains, hunger and excessive taxations on the people of the state.

He made the allegation in a press briefing in Benin City when reviewing the one year anniversary of Godwin Obaseki in office as Governor of the state.

“You will practically agree with me that this government has done nothing apart from increasing the burden of taxation on the people of Edo State. So if you want us to do an assessment of this government, I will tell you that I will not shy away from the conclusion that Godwin Obaseki one year in office is one of unmitigated suffering, hunger and insensitivity to the plight of Edo people”, he said.

Orbih said Obaseki should face the realities of governance and stop making promises as the era of political campaigns were over adding that what the people of the state want to see is what would improve on their lives and not rhetorics.

The state chairman asked the governor to stop blaming the opposition party (PDP) for his poor performance in the state but should heap his blame on the immediate past governor of the state who ruled for eight years and left  a burden of debt for him as an inheritance.

“The truth is that today, I can gladly say that Obaseki cannot turn his back and blame the problems facing the state on PDP government. The only government you can blame now is eight years of Oshiomhole government which is APC government in Edo State.

“We are completely out of the picture unlike in the past at every time they will say what we are facing is PDP years in government. Now, what can they say? All we can say is that whatever problems Obaseki is facing today, he should look at the direction of Oshiomhole eight years as governor of Edo State”, he said.

He noted that though the immediate past governor of the state left huge debt behind, Obaseki has shown more financial recklessness than best imagine by plunging the state into more debt due to his financial recklessness, adding that Edo and Lagos States have topped the most indebted states in the federation.

He said the governor should stop the blaming games and pay the pensioners their arrears rather than accusing the opposition party in the state of sponsoring their protest.

“On the 12 of this month, we saw the governor making his speech celebrating his one year anniversary in office. This morning, i want to start by using this opportunity to appreciate and congratulate the good people of Edo State for surviving Governor Godwin Obaseki one year of hard and unbearable government policies.

“We have painfully observed the government insensitivity to the plight of pensioners. In the past few months, on a daily basis, the pensioners have been coming out to the street of Benin City, protesting and demanding for their entitlement, unfortunately, they have been blackmailed, intimidated by the government accusing them that they have been sponsored by the opposition party.

“The reason why they have not been able to address the problem facing pensioners in the state is simple, the past eight years and one year of Obaseki government making nine years is simple.

“They have turned the Edo State Pension Board to a den of thieves operated by their party officials and working in collaboration with some government officials. As we speak, even the woman leader of APC is facing trial over what they have done with the money they were supposed to use to settle pensioners”,he said.

The PDP boss while picking holes in the just concluded Alaghodaro Summit noted that it was a forum put up by the governor to entertain his political sponsors and business associates.

He said the governor is busy lamenting over the poor state of federal road linking his state instead of emulating his counterpart in Delta State who fixed up eight federal government roads just to make life meaningful for its citizens.

He said the governor should learn to always do the needful instead of blaming and waiting for the federal government to do all for him.

“For our roads, they have gone from bad to worse. In the past one year, it is on record that we never had it so bad in the area of road network in this state. The state capital has been totally cut off from the rest of the state.

“It is easier to go to Edo Central through Delta State and to go to Edo North, it is easier to go through Ondo State going through Ifon and then journey through Sabogida Ora before you proceed to Auchi.

“That is how bad our roads are. A few days ago, the Delta State government came out with the information that they have intervened in eight federal roads in Delta State because of the importance of the roads to the Deltan people.

“What we are saying here is Obaseki, intervene even in one we are not saying eight. Delta intervened in eight federal roads because of the importance of the roads to the people. Here in Edo State, we watched the pathetic feature of the governor lamenting the state of roads in Edo State. It is not enough to cry.

He blamed the ruling party of having an ordinate ambition of always wanting to sell the state asset without thinking adding values to what they inherited from successive governments.

While rating the present administration, he however said apart from taxation where Obaseki has scored 100 percent, he has failed woefully in other aspects of the needs of the people.

The opposition party blamed the governor embarking on foreign trips that have not yielded any results in the state.

In his swift reactions, the spokesperson on media to the state governor, Mr. Osagie Crusoe said, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demonstrated its lack of capacity to appreciate the new direction the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration is taking the state, with the opposition party’s consistent embarrassing comments on the well thought-out programmes of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Again, as always, the very few people still left in the ragtag drowning PDP have shown that they are stuck with their medieval and archaic approach to governance, by attempting to tarnish the rising profile the state has earned with her lofty programmes, especially the Alaghodaro Investment Summit organised by the APC-led Edo State Government.

We wish that the PDP remnant will follow their former members who have evolved from stomach-seeking politics, have come to terms with the new people-oriented governance and have found a place in the APC.

It is not surprising that to see that the feeble PDP remnants cannot see the benefits of an investment summit that assembled over 5,000 business leaders from across the world in Edo State to discuss the opportunities that abound in our state. These are companies that are investing millions of dollars in Edo State, including the chief executives of BUA Group whose $1billion dollar 3million tonnes cement plant was inaugurated by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo recently in Okpella, Edo State, the President of Dangote Group, that is kicking off a 1$ billion dollar cement factory in Okpella, to expand its cement production in Nigeria, Mahindra Group that is collaborating with the Edo State Government to build the N200billion Benin Industrial Park and Tolaram Group to mention a few.

You cannot give what you do not have. The PDP clearly lacks the capacity to see the opportunities in the governor’s investment drive because of his profile as an investment banker. His dexterity is currently on display at the Edo Chemical and Fertiliser Company which was a drainpipe for the PDP to siphon state funds, but is now up and running and producing fertiliser to Edo farmers and Nigerians at large.

We sympathise with their ignorance and our governor is open to sharing his ideas and knowledge and is particularly willing to teach the remnant PDP members, what it takes to deliver measurable, concrete and verifiable investments from business trips, unlike their widely reported globetrotting that pauperised our people when they held sway.

It is rather unfortunate that the same PDP, which is the cause of all the mess that the APC government has been clearing in the past nine years in the state, is now begging the question by providing shelter for officials of the Edo State Traffic Management Agency (EDSTMA). We want to say that we have received the shelter without thanks to them because we know that the funds used in procuring those items are a fraction of our common patrimony which they plundered with reckless abandon. A dignifying act would be to bring back the looted billions so that the APC can fast-track the development of the state.

The PDP has always been known to thrive through the misrepresentation of facts and the telling of outright lies. But Edo people are much more sophisticated than the PDP and know that their claims of the state’s indebtedness are all lies and should be discountenanced.